E=MC² Album Reviews Part 1

Boston Globe
by Sarah Rodman
April 14, 2008


Mariah Carey
E=MC²

Continuing a winning formula
Mariah Carey is probably going to annoy a few people with her new album, "E=MC2," which is out tomorrow. Ex-husband Tommy Mottola, Janet Jackson, and diehard Beatles fans will probably be crossing the best-selling female artist of all time off their Christmas card lists.

For everyone who thought 2005's "The Emancipation of Mimi," Carey's uneven "comeback" album after "Glitter," was the bee's knees, they'll love what amounts to its sequel. (I'm no Einstein, but the title could work with that theory.)

Record mogul Mottola is the clear, though never named, villain of one song. Miss Jackson has to listen to her boo, producer Jermaine Dupri, succeed more readily with her rival's album than her own recent release. And given its designer snap and bounce, "E=MC2" will no doubt ascend the charts at light speed, shooting off singles like meteors. When that happens the New York native will break the Beatles' record for the most No. 1 songs ever on the Billboard singles chart. (The Fab Four have 20; Carey is at 18.)

As sequels go, "E=MC2" is better than most, boasting a higher, and more consistent, quotient of slinky, dance-floor charm and stronger ballads than "Mimi." It retains the basic outline of the original: party, love, hurt, pray. Some familiar characters like Dupri return for continuity's sake and fresh cast members include top-shelf collaborators like Scott Storch and Nate "Danjahandz" Hills.

In the party category, we get "I'm That Chick" and "Migrate." The former, the album's best track, takes some of the melody and the feathery vocal approach of Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall." "Migrate," a frivolous, funky, self-referential jam, charts the flight patterns of your modern, fabulously talented urban diva - from the car to the club to the bar to the VIP lounge to the after-party to the hotel - with computer-processed vocals from the unshakable T-Pain.

Carey opens her heart and her boudoir in different ways. The limp "Touch My Body," the album's first single and current hit, simultaneously offers sensual delights and threatens bodily harm if evidence of the "secret rendezvous" makes its way onto YouTube. But on a feverish "Cruise Control," Carey is driven to distraction by a gruff Damien Marley, her own playful stab at Jamaican patois.

The singer gets her cry on with the connect-the-dots break-up track "I Stay in Love," but she cuts closer to the bone with "Side Effects," another look at her fractious marriage to Mottola. Although the union ended in 1998, Carey is still suffering, including dreams of the "violent times" and "sleeping with the enemy." Interestingly, her vocal approach here is almost emo, as she hits her rock-solid middle register and refuses to be held captive by the demons of her past. (Except, of course, she's still singing about them.)

She concludes as she did on "Mimi" with an inspirational number. In this case, it's "I Wish You Well," a rousing piano waltz that extends forgiveness to those who have wronged her in the past and is pretty much interchangeable with its predecessors.

Throughout the 14 tracks Carey generally flattens whatever melodies peek out with her signature agitated little vocal fillips. This is terrific for fluttering, hand-gesture accompaniment but keeps the tunes from being truly infectious.

"E=MC2" feels like the subtly prettier identical twin of "Emancipation of Mimi," as if for Carey freedom's just another word for doing the same thing again.



Boston Herald
by Lauren Carter
April 14, 2008


Mariah Carey
E=MC²
Rating: B+

Mimi is a long way from her "Vision of Love" roots. That's not necessarily a bad thing. An artist must evolve to stay current with the young and the fickle, and Carey successfully does it on her 11th studio album, a combination of club-ready tracks, breathy appeals, amusing Mariahisms and her signature vocal acrobatics.

The evolution of Mariah (and The Emancipation of Mariah Carey to the Second Power) means that the 38-year-old superstar is neither a one-dimensional pop celebrity nor soulful confessionist. Mariah 2K8 creates a mood rather than overwhelming with sheer power; she gets personal without revealing too much.

As on her previous "The Emancipation of Mimi," Mariah relies on pop flavor with an urban slant. T-Pain, Young Jeezy and Damien Marley are onboard, and beats come courtesy of Jermaine Dupri, Danja, Tricky Stewart, Bryan-Michael Cox, Scott Storch, DJ Toomp and Swizz Beatz. Though fans seem to eat up her midtempo ballads, too many of them feel like a variation on the same song. The hip-hop-inspired tracks prove the strongest, offering more sass than pure soul.

Download: "Side Effects."




Mass Live
by Kevin O'Hare
April 13, 2008


Mariah Carey
E=MC²


Carey gets the Formula Right on 'E=MC2'
When "The Emancipation of Mimi" topped the charts and turned into the biggest-selling album of 2005, it marked a stunning comeback from Mariah Carey, who'd gone through the kind of career meltdown that seemed certain to leave her a has-been way before her prime-time had passed.

She overcame the odds, rocketed back to the top of the pops and staged a hugely successful tour.

So now Carey returns with her follow-up to "Emancipation," and it's got a lot of the same charm as the last disc and frankly, a whole lot more structure than when Carey used to seem to just spin hits out like a machine earlier in her career.

Her multi-octave voice has always been rather freaky, with that out-of-this-world top octave which sounded as if it was designed to distract dogs more than actually add substantively to her music. It still shows up from time to time, even this deep into her career, kicking in the thick rhythm of the album opening club collaboration with T-Pain on "Migrate," and coloring the background of the otherwise straight soul ballad "I Wish You Well," that closes the album.

What's refreshing on "E=MC2" however is that Carey has gotten to the point where she uses her pipes to strengthen the songs instead of relying on relatively mediocre material as nothing more than a showcase for her voice. There's a sense here that she realizes that she doesn't have to leave jaws-dropping with every musical phrase and instead she's simply bringing out the best in the songs.

The diva has also gotten away from all the layers of production that used to muddy up everything she recorded. She's working with some big names - of course - including Antonio "LA" Reid, with whom she shares the executive producer role, and also collaborates with guest producers including C. "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, Will I Am, Bryan Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Stargate, and several others.

She also sings alongside the aforementioned T-Pain, but also with Damien Marley, who's quite prominent in the island-flavored "Cruise Control," and the raspy Young Jeezy, who pairs with Carey on "Side Effects."

The singer's at her best though on some of the more straight-ahead material, including the lusty lead single "Touch My Body," which recently became Carey's 18th No. 1 single, a mark that helped her surpass Elvis Presley in that category. She also shines on the piano-based ballad "I Stay in Love," the breezy and infectious light dance track "I'm That Chick," and the destined for hits-ville "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time."

Occasionally predictable, she falls into a couple of traps like during overly-sentimental cuts like "Last Kiss," and "Bye Bye," the latter the type of song that will have fans swaying with their cellphones held high at her concerts. But those sidesteps aside, this is a genuinely sturdy set, and whether one is a fan or not, it's still tough not to marvel at how Carey is still overcoming the odds and building on a frankly remarkable career.

Source: MariahDailyJournal